Applying for college is an exceedingly exciting time, faced with the world of opportunities and possibilities at your fingertips.
So, to help make your application experience not only less stressful but more productive, continue reading to learn five top tips for success when applying for college.
Trust Your Instincts
Usually, when starting to plan your applications to various colleges across the state and further afield, you will naturally be inundated by different people giving you different pieces of advice which are often conflicting in nature.
As useful and helpful as this guidance and assistance may well be, you are the only person who truly knows how to describe both your personal experiences and feelings as well as your prior curricular and extracurricular pursuits and achievements, so trust your instincts and always do what you think is right.
Ask for Recommendations Ahead of Time
Part and parcel of a personal statement that will stand you in good stead in your hopes of being accepted for a place at your number one preferred college or university is to include links, statements, and references to people who can vouch for your professional dedication and your personal aptitude.
Recommendations are an important part of your personal statement and college application package, so be sure to reach out to the relevant people as soon as you can; leaving such matters to the last minute could result in not having them back and ready in time.
Always Include Any Extracurricular Activities
Extracurricular activities are sometimes wrongly considered to be irrelevant when applying to study a particular course or program at college, but in actual fact, much onus will be placed on what you choose to do with your free time. Be sure to include any and all extracurricular activities you enjoy, especially those in which you excel and certainly those that are relevant to your chosen field of study.
To learn of other ways to turn your college application from satisfactory to excellent, look at CampusReel to garner an idea of not only the exact admission requirements but also other things colleges and universities are looking for.
Decide on Two ‘Backup’ Colleges
Even though if you pay due attention to your college applications and take your time completing and editing every single section, together with your grades, you should achieve success and a place at your favored college, it is still worth having two backup colleges in mind.
With matters concerning higher education, it is always a good idea to have a ‘Plan B’ and even, in some cases, a ‘Plan B’ just in case things do not go to plan when you receive the results of your applications.
Read Everything Thoroughly!
Often, in the excitement of applying to college, you can be too much like the proverbial bull in the china shop and start writing your personal statement as soon as you can.
However, like when assembling a piece of flat-pack furniture and not reading the instructions, starting your application without thoroughly reading and understanding every part of the associated literature could mean that you miss out something crucial, and this could be to your detriment.